In a traditional laptop or computer design, a computing device may include a relatively large number of independent voltage regulators. These voltage regulators may be used to convert a voltage level to one or more different voltage levels. In a generic example, a voltage regulator may be used to convert a voltage level of 12 volts to 5 volts, 3.3 volts, and/or 1 volt for use within various subsystems within the computing device. Traditionally, these voltage regulators may operate asynchronously from each other, e.g., they can pull current at any point in time. Generally, voltage regulators utilized in computing devices operate as switching regulators where they receive relatively high input voltage and rapidly switch the input voltage on and off on a periodic cycle having an operating frequency, which, as a result, filters the input voltage into a lower output voltage.
For a variety of different reasons, the asynchronous voltage regulators may include voltage regulators operating at a number of different frequencies. For example, some voltage regulators may operate at 300 kilohertz, others may operate at 400 kilohertz, and other may operate at 500 kilohertz. However, even if the voltage regulators are designed to operate at the same frequency, because these voltage regulators operate using different clocks, the common operating frequency of the voltage regulators may deviate from one another when in operation.
In the case of the same frequency or different frequency, when a number of voltage regulators operate asynchronously, there may be periods of time where an input current requirement is relatively high. In one generic example, if one of the voltage regulators peeks at 1 amp, another voltage regulator peaks at 1 amp, and still another voltage regulator peeks at 1 amp, the computing device should be able to handle a total of three amps in case all three voltage regulators peek at the same time. However, in order to handle a relatively large amount of current, the computing device may require a relatively large number of capacitors.
In other words, the current requirement may control the amount of capacitance, e.g., the higher the current requirement, the higher the amount of capacitance required. For example, a capacitor is an electrically charged storage element. Normally, the computing device includes a relatively large number of capacitors on the motherboard. Some of these capacitors may be connected to a particular voltage regulator, and others may be connected to other voltage regulators. The capacitors may store energy, and when the voltage regulators fire asynchronously, the voltage regulators may pull energy out of the capacitors in order to provide the right amount of energy without the voltages of the various rails deceasing in a manner that was not intended. However, the conventional voltage regulator design may require a relatively large amount of capacitance in order to handle a relatively large amount of input current due to the nature of asynchronous operation of these voltage regulators.